The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MoHRD) of the Government of India (GoI) is in a tussle with the boards of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) over several proposals in the Indian Institutes of Management Bill, 2015, but the fiercest debate has been over reserving faculty positions. The government insists on a quota system, but the IIMs say the reserved category lacks talent and affect quality. Missing from the debate on the bill has been two important issues—the talent shortage in academics, and the government’s failure in implementing the reservation policy.

First, we must admit the shortage of talent in academics. Every year, more of the best students choose better paying corporate jobs over a PhD course and academics, which lacks a welcoming environment, and recognition beyond lip service by society and government. This trend is even truer for students from marginalised communities who lack social capital and have pressing economic and emotional commitments to find a job. So, there is at least partial merit in the argument against imposing the quota system for faculty at the IIMs.

Second, several committees included a parliamentary committee headed by Rajen Gohain, a BJP MP, found that the GoI failed to enforce reservation in faculty appointment and promotion at centrally funded institutes (CFI) for years although the GoI is the sole funder of CFIs and has better control over these than over the IIMs. E Muralidharan, an IIT Madras alumnus, censured CFIs that routinely cite that the ‘candidate is not found suitable’ to flout the quota policy. When this was reported in the media, there was scathing public criticism of CFIs, and civil rights and Dalit activists reprimanded them for discriminating against students from the reserved category at the interview and in the final selection.

But the autonomy granted to the IIMs, CFIs, and other elite educational institutions does not supercede the guarantee of affirmative provisions in the Constitution of India, and the principle of merit cannot be inimical to the principles of natural justice and human dignity. On the other hand, it is unrealistic to expect elite, merit-crazed Indian educational institutions to implement the quota for appointing and promoting faculty without first implementing the quota at the research level.

Therefore, the solution is to implement the reservation policy at the Masters and PhD level first, and properly, to create a pool of the best talent interested in an academic career. In 2008, the MoHRD mandated elite CFIs to ensure representation of marginalised communities among PhD students and the faculty, but the quota system is so grossly violated that it is natural to suspect that CFIs abuse their autonomy.

The MoHRD should review the quota policy for appointing and promoting faculty, and mandate elite educational CFIs to notify the total strength and the quota of reserved seats. Before insisting on a quota for appointing faculty from marginalised communities to the IIMs at least for some years, the GoI can guarantee students from marginalised communities entry to the PhD/Fellow programme of IIMs, provide them full grants, and appoint the best Fellows to faculty positions. It can also offer grants to those students from deprived communities who secure PhD admission in world’s best business school. This will attract talent from marginalised communities to research and teaching.

Implementation of the quota policy is a constitutional requirement of the government and a moral and social responsibility. If the government does not implement the policy, it will prove that its rhetoric against the backdrop of protests since the suicide of PhD scholar Rohit Vemula is an attempt to restore its image and not an expression of commitment to the Dalit cause.

Gourishankar S Hiremath teaches Economics and Political Economy at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. The views expressed are personal.

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6 Comments

The elite upper-caste academics as well as politicians have successfully noted the discrepancy of merit and heaped attacks on reservations. Their false notions of pseudo- meritocracy must be busted. This is a dangerous trend. There are many OBC , SC, st etc who are more than capable of being ‘ Times’ and hence. The dalits much .

The selection of faculty at IITs, IIMs, NITs, etc is not through open competition on the basis of merit. It is pick and choose method. There are sufficient number of SC/ST/OBC candidates eligible for the teaching pots in these institutes, but they are being deprived on the basis of cast. There is noting like merit in the selection of faculty. First of all, there should be a UPSC-like commission to appoint the faculty on the basis of open competition. A strict reservation policy similar to UGC guidelines of August 2006 should be enforced in all the CEIs.

I agree with Mr Uday Singh’s points. The faculty selections in CFIs are totally random. The system of recommendations and influence of the big names still there in academy. Even, if anyone get into these institutes through reservation the faculties from deprived sections have to spend half the time defending their merit. Most of the so called merit based upper class/caste faculties do not bother about teaching. More transparency should be introduced in the selection process and reservation should be strictly followed. Yes, introducing reservation in PG/PHD level would help as the writer pointed out. To avoid a situation happened to Rohith Vemula, the faculties should have periodic human rights classes and behavioural training. If school teachers need training to deal with students, what kind of training we expect from faculties in higher education to deal with sensitive adults?

I feel there are enough candidates in all classes. It is just that upper class/caste run institutes hiding behind their autonomy. The system of recommendations and peer review systems(unless double-blind system) are bound to failure in a country like ours when shameless lobbying is the everyday norm. As the writer mentioned in the article, implementing strict reservation in PG/PHD and incentivising them would be a step in right direction. But not only implementing reservation, faculties should have human rights training to deal with students.

Balaji is right when he suggest some kind of training to the faculties and teachers both at primary and higher levels of education. It is unfortunate that the caste discrimination in Higher Educational Institutions persist more than the primary school but its subtle and sophisticated. In primary schools, teachers often ignorant ask the boys and girls of sc/st to stand up in the class to distribute scholarship or any benefits. Many time it is because of lack of sensitiveness

I think Dr. Hiremath has correctly pointed out the way in which the govt. should move if it is really concerned about the extremely less representation from the oppressed communities in the faculty openings of universities and colleges.

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